18 Sep 2012

Bring down NZ dollar - strategist

7:47 pm on 18 September 2012

A money markets strategist is urging policymakers to take active steps to bring down the dollar, saying the financial stability of the economy is at stake.

There are concerns the New Zealand dollar's resurgence is killing the manufacturing sector.

JB Were strategist Bernard Doyle says the Reserve Bank has to move on from its orthodox monetary policy and look at options to bring down the exchange rate for the NZ dollar against currencies of key trading partners.

One Tuesday the New Zealand dollar was trading at 82.78 US cents at the end of the local business, and its resurgence has heightened the concerns of manufacturers and other exporters.

The Government and the Reserve Bank have ruled out intervening in the currency, but Mr Doyle says layoffs in the manufacturing and mining sectors show New Zealand is no longer immune to the forces reshaping the world economy.

Mr Doyle says the government should also look at injecting funds into the productive sector as targeted, temporary relief, starting with Solid Energy's Spring Creek mine on the West Coast.